Controversial plans to build a Tesco store in a congested part of Barwell have been approved by councillors.

The store, and 10 flats, will be in the High Street, near Barwell Junior School.

The plans have met with fierce opposition from residents, and Ian Marriot, spokesman for protest group Barwell Under Threat, said approval could lead to traffic chaos.

“There’s a television show called Location, Location, Location,” he said. “And in the case of Barwell Tesco it is wrong, wrong, wrong.”

Mr Marriot, who has lived opposite the site for 16 years, said he felt that any influx of traffic could put the safety of school children at risk.

He added: “I know a lot of people are in favour of development in Barwell, and I am one of those people.

“I would welcome Tesco to Barwell, and would be happy to find them an alternative site in the village.”

Planning agent Caroline Church, for Tesco, said opening hours would be restricted to between 7am and 11pm and any signage would be placed “sympathetically”.

She declined to comment on whether articulated lorries would be used for deliveries.

Barwell ward Councillor Dr James Moore was not in the chamber for the debate. Fellow ward councillor and Liberal Democrat David Gould was present for the debate, but declined to comment on the application.

In a night of heated debate at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council’s planning committee, plans were also approved to site a 200ft mast in Peckleton to collect wind data – potentially paving the way for a wind farm in the village.

Burbage will finally get a new dentist, after plans to place one in Church Street were approved, and moves to site a mobile phone mast in Boyslade Road were turned down.

Plans to turn Stretton House, on the A5, into a place of worship and teaching for a religious group, were withdrawn before the meeting.